This is nothing but a semantic argument. Sanders might have saved himself a lot of grief by adopted the label “New Deal liberal” rather than “democratic socialist.” Likewise, FDR, not being an idiot, didn’t call himself a socialist, but he got accused of being one anyway. The larger issue is that today’s Right calls the sort of positions FDR took “socialism.” You can call it “mugwumpery” for all I care; the important thing is that the U.S. needs to move away from the right-wing precipice it’s standing on now.